As he made the case that Democrat Hillary Clinton is more qualified to serve in the White House, Obama drew a stark contrast with Trump's dark vision of the country. He reminded voters that Reagan famously called America "a shining city on a hill." Trump, he said, calls the United States "a divided crime scene" and hopes to win votes by scaring people over immigration and crime.

Evoking Reagan is nothing new for Obama, who also praised the Republican when he was running for president eight years ago and drew plenty of heat from his own party for doing so. As Obama battled Clinton for the 2008 Democratic nomination, he lauded Reagan for changing "the trajectory of America" and said that Republicans "were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time."

Chelsea Clinton Speaks at DNC

Chelsea Clinton Speaks at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night.

(Published Friday, July 29, 2016)

At the time, Hillary Clinton lambasted Obama for praising Reagan's legacy, saying the Republican had bad ideas that were bad for the country.

But Obama insisted Democrats could disagree with Reagan's specific policies, yet still admire him as a transformative political figure who was able to win over many Democrats and independents. He said Democrats needed to think in the same way if they had any hope of reclaiming the presidency.

Fast forward to Wednesday night, and Obama was at it again. He said the rhetoric at the GOP convention in Cleveland "wasn't particularly Republican, and it sure wasn't conservative."